The council-fire that night was built out on the point instead of in the great stone fireplace. Because of Mr. Thornton’s presence, a special program had been arranged. There were scout games and stunts in abundance, songs galore, and a number of other features which had proved effective last summer. But it wasn’t quite all gaiety and careless amusement. Mingling with the joking and laughter and occasional bit of skylarking was a touch of sober seriousness. It was their last night in camp together. Moreover, from that momentous Tuesday things had never been really quite the same. Their daily drills and practice were rousing in them a sense of responsibility. They knew that all over the country preparations for war were being pushed energetically. There had been time also, to hear from home–of how this brother talked of enlisting in the marines, or that cousin, a member of Captain Chalmers’s own regiment, who had been ordered to hold himself in readiness to join the colors. And so at the end, standing shoulder to shoulder around the blaze, their young voices ringing out in the stirring strains of “America,” more than one throat tightened, and there were few who did not feel a tingling thrill beyond the thrill those verses usually evoked.
There came a pause. Then slowly John Thornton rose and stood for a moment facing them in silence.
“I want to thank you, boys,” he said at length, in tones which emotion had rendered brusk and almost harsh. “It–it has been a privilege and more than pleasure to see your surprising work this afternoon and to be with you in this way to-night. I am proud of you–prouder than you can ever know. I can say nothing more than this,” and his voice rang out suddenly with a note that stirred them inexplicably: “If only the youth of our country will measure up to your standards in the crisis that is before us, we need fear nothing for the future.”
CHAPTER XXIX
“EVERY SCOUT TO FEED A SOLDIER”
The returning scouts found Hillsgrove buzzing with preparation. In fact, so changed was the atmosphere of the town that it was hard to believe they had been away for little more than a week. Several of the young men had already enlisted in army or navy. The post-office, courthouse, and many of the stores displayed inspiring posters urging others to do the same. A home guard was being organized for the purpose of dealing effectually with any sort of disturbance from resident foreigners, while a number of men, both young and middle-aged, talked of forming a regular military troop to be drilled twice weekly on the green by army officers or men who had been at Plattsburg.
It was all stirring and inspiring, and there is no telling to what extent the members of Troop Five might have become involved had not Mr. Curtis given them a serious talk at the first meeting after their return from camp. Captain Chalmers had departed with his regiment to take up guard duty along the line in one of the important railroads of the State, leaving Mr. Curtis in general charge of the scout situation at Hillsgrove; so that this talk was later repeated in substance at meetings of the other troops.
“I know you’re all very keen to get into things and do your bit,” he said, when the boys gathered around him in the parish-house. “The only question, of course, is how you can be most useful without frittering away your time. I’ve taken the matter up with headquarters, and talked it over with the mayor and several other men, and have come to this conclusion: first of all, we’ll go ahead with our preparations for the rally, but instead of having it a free exhibition, as we planned, we’ll charge admission and turn over the proceeds to the Red Cross. Next, I’m going to organize a signaling corps and a first-aid division formed of the real experts in each troop. There may be no immediate use for either of these, but you’ll be ready when the time comes. Then there is the detail of helping to keep public order, in which the Boy Scouts have always been especially useful. There is no telling when or where you may be called upon, but your training and discipline helps you to quick thinking and action.”
He paused an instant, and then his voice took on a deeper, more earnest note. “But more important than anything else just now is the need for each one of you to do everything in his power to help conserve and increase the food supply. All over the world this supply is low. The whole of Europe looks to us for a goodly proportion of its daily bread, and we’ve got to meet that expectation. We’ve got to make this a year of bumper crops, even at a time when labor will naturally be scarcer than ever. And to help out in this crisis the men at the head of the Boy Scout movement have adopted a motto–a slogan–which should be first and foremost in every scout’s mind until the war is over. ‘Every Scout to Feed a Soldier!’ Isn’t that fine? A scout with a hoe may equal a man with a gun. The President himself has stated more than once that a man may serve his country as effectually in the corn-field as at the front. And how much more is this the duty of a boy whose age makes it impossible for him to reach the firing-line. I’ve known you fellows too long and too intimately to have any doubts as to your responses to this appeal. Those of you who have home gardens that will take all your time must look after them, releasing, if possible, some man for other work. The others, I hope, will volunteer their services to any one needing them, and I expect very soon to have an organized clearing-house for farmers in the neighborhood needing help and boys willing to furnish it. I may say that any one going into this will be allowed to absent himself from the afternoon school session and all day on Wednesdays. Later, the schools may be closed entirely for workers. Now, I know this doesn’t sound nearly so stirring and patriotic as joining a military company and drilling and all that; but this isn’t a moment in which to pick and choose. The duty of each one of us is to give himself where he is most needed. And, believe me, fellows, by helping to plant and harvest you will be performing the highest sort of service to your country and humanity. I want you to think this over to-night, and from to-morrow on I’ll be ready to take the names of volunteers.”
It was a rather silent crowd that filed out of the meeting-room a little later. To the great majority Mr. Curtis’s proposition certainly didn’t sound in the least interesting or alluring. On the contrary it had a decidedly depressing effect, and several openly declared that they’d be hanged if they’d spend the entire summer in that kind of drudgery. But second thought, aided, perhaps, by a little solid advice at home, wrought a change. The next afternoon the fellows held a private meeting of their own at which the few persistent objectors were crushed by bodily force, when necessary, and which ended in the whole troop volunteering as a body.
It wasn’t at all an easy thing for some of them to do. In boys like Ranny Phelps, who loathed “grubbing with a hoe” and had never had the slightest experience in farming, it was something almost akin to heroism. But not one of them shirked or backed down. Within a week they were all placed, and, from that time on, blistered hands, weary backs, and aching muscles were the order of the day. As Ranny once expressed it,–airily, but with an underlying touch of seriousness,–the only bright spots in the week were Sunday, when they could sleep late, and the two afternoons they were let off at four o’clock to practise for the rally.